A surgical procedure performed on a player in your rotation can never be described as "timely," but if it is deemed necessary, it's obviously better now than later. While Monday's sugery to Channing Frye's sore ankle wasn't terribly serious, it will still keep him out of training camp, and will most likely have him out of the Blazer lineup until the first couple of weeks of the regular season.
The procedure was performed to remove several bone spurs that were causing Frye pain in his ankle as he was getting set for the upcoming season. As I've talked about several times, Channing was in the best shape of his career, and has spent the entire summer around the Blazers' practice facility.
So, obviously, it's a bad break for Frye, who appeared to be way ahead of the curve in getting ready for training camp. Given the way he finished last season, and with the addition of Greg Oden in the center of Portland's lineup, Channing has been extremely excited to return to his natural position of facing the basket, and has been described by some to be possibly the best perimeter shooter on the team.
As you know, injuries are always the x-factor for teams, and you can't do anything about it once they pop up. Once the bone spurs were discovered, little time was wasted in getting Frye immediately under the knife to correct the problem
So, given the circumstances it can be seen as good news in that a) it wasn't Greg Oden, and b) it was caught early enough that Frye shouldn't miss much of the regular season. And, being you have to simply accept these things and move on, this should be seen as an opportunity for another Trail Blazer- Ike Diogu
Diogu has practically been the forgotten man when thinking back to the draft-day deal with Indiana that brought the Trail Blazers Jerryd Bayless. Bayless will see plenty of action, even early in the season, and now perhaps, so will Diogu
Both Diogu and Bayless were in action on Tuesday at the practice facility in Tualatin, as the pick-up games continue leading in to training camp. Bayless was his usual impressive self, as he continues to impress, and Diogu is beginning to emerge, as he gets into shape for the upcoming season
Injuries have plagued Diogu early in his NBA career, and he hasn't yet shown the ability to be a force inside like he was in college, when he led the Pac-10 in scoring and rebounding. But, he's healthy now, and has shown a powerful inside game in these workouts. And, perhaps no one will benefit more from Frye's untimely surgery than Diogu, who is now expected to back up LaMarcus Aldridge at the power-forward spot
It's an opportunity for Diogu to show he belongs in the rotation, he believes, even when Frye returns, he can have a role on this team. The Blazers were in need of some toughness inside, and Diogu can certainly, along with Oden, supply that
Speaking of Oden, he at it in some full-court, five-on-five games on Monday, and as has been the plan, spent Tuesday working with Maurice Lucas on some inside moves, and shooting drills. As I was sitting, watching Oden work with his back to the basket against Lucas, I couldn't help noticing how absolutely huge Oden is. Lucas is a big man, but looks like a shooting guard when he works closely with Oden
There were several players who stood out to me on Tuesday during the full-court games. Bayless is so explosive, and is going to be a terrific perimeter defender. He also showed a devistating cross over move on the wing during a game, took two steps and threw the ball down with his right hand in traffic. While it's true that if Oden had been playing, the ball would have likely never made it to the rim, it was a very impressive dunk.
Sergio Rodriguez spent all summer working to rebuild his shot, and at least so far, it looks like the work is paying off. His shot no longer looks flat and hard, but instead his release is high, and in one of the games he hit three straight high-arching bombs, and helped his team to a victory. Sergio also looks bigger, and has worked on his perimeter defense. His newly-added upper body strength has already helped with that
As impressive as the guards have been, it has still been obvious that the best point guard in these early full-court games has been Steve Blake. I fully expect him to win the starting job again, and would be shocked to see anyone else in there, at least in the early going. He's worked as hard as anyone this summer, and like Frye, has spent the entire summer in Portland, his home
The workouts continue. Stay tuned
